The Palestine Chronology

Military Action:

IDF keeps units at Baabda, ignoring US/Lebanese pressure to withdraw from greater Beirut area; Phalangists with automatic rifles maintain East Beirut checkpoints despite government call to disarm all militias; IDF APCs patrol Beirut-Damascus Highway (at Sofar, civilian traffic to Syria checked by Phalange and Lebanese Army, traffic from Syria checked by IDF); IDF issues winter uniforms, ships temporary housing units (from dismantled Yamit settlement) to front lines, roads linking units paved; sniper fire/rocket firings mar Israeli/Syrian cease-fire; US military survey team arrives at Jounieh for talks with Lebanese military (US explosives demolition team has been in Lebanon for about 6 weeks training Lebanese Army).

Casualties:

1 killed by landmine in central Beirut; police deactivate car bomb in West Beirut; Palestinian camps in South Lebanon still have no electricity, running water, rebuilding prohibited, diarrhea is epidemic; lCRC describes conditions at al-Ansar detention camp as "catastrophic," no charges brought against detainees; despite weekly releases, prison population remains stable because of new detainees; envoys of three peacekeeping forces express concern to Gemayel over arbitrary arrests of Palestinians.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Shamir says he expects simultaneous withdrawal of all forces from Lebanon by end of year under timetable to be negotiated with the US.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Gemayel to meet Reagan October 19; suspect in Bashir Gemayel death identified as Habib Shartouni of Lebanese leftist Syrian Social National Party (Phalange charges he was close to Syrian and Palestinian intelligence services); Gemayel meets with Wazzan, General Khoury, General Ahmed to discuss reactivating judicial mechanisms.

Arab Governments: Syrian officials tell Habib Syria will withdraw from Lebanon only at Lebanon's request and if Israel also withdraws from all Lebanese territory, and that only PLO can decide on withdrawal of PLO from Lebanon.

US and Other Countries: US says it will cut US funds to and participation in any international body barring Israeli delegates.

Military Action:

Lebanese Government urges US to deploy contingent in larger area to pressure IDF to withdraw from entire Beirut area (IDF tanks still stationed around presidential palace at Baabda); Marines continue to bring equipment ashore (currently assigned to patrol from southern tip of airport to Burj al-Barajneh); French troops take over East Beirut positions from Phalange for first time; IDF unit attacked near Aley (no casualties).

Casualties:

Site of massacre bulldozed as Lebanese Government flattens camp for "health and psychological reasons"; Lebanese Army searches door-to-door for illegal residents (Syrians are deported, Turks jailed, 1500 Palestinians taken for interrogation); Saeb Salam asks Gemayel to halt "kidnappings".

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Israeli Chief Justice Kahan appoints judicial Commission of inquiry into Beirut massacre; Begin may press for elections next spring after Commission releases findings.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Saeb Salam rejects Gemayel request for him to return as Prime Minister for 5th time; suspect in Gemayel assassination arrested by Phalange security agents (3 men also arrested for murder two years ago of Bashir Gemayel's 18-month-old daughter); Habib meets Gemayel for 90 minutes, on route from Egypt to Syria; DFLP's Hawatmeh says DFLP will propose resolution on mutual recognition between Israel and PLO at next Palestine National Council meeting.

US and Other Countries: Reagan calls death of Marine "tragic" but says US commitment to peacekeeping force remains unchanged; Gromyko, at UN, condemns Reagan peace plan.

UN: UN declines to set up independent inquiry on massacre because Lebanese want inquiry to be carried on outside Lebanon, but PLO thinks inquiry should be held in Lebanon.

Military Action:

IDF seizes control of most of West Beirut, overcoming resistance by small groups of LNM militia; Israelis tell residents to turn in weapons, claim IDF role is limited; brief fighting west of port; IDF shells headquarters of Murabitun; by 11:30 AM, IDFannounces it controls all key points in West Beirut, completely encircles Sabra, Shatila and Bourj al-Barajneh refugee camps; random killings of civilians by Phalange using knives and sniper fire reported during morning; after 2 meetings of Phalange commanders with Drori, Phalange militia sets up command post near Shatila camp entrance, across street from IDF observation post looking down into camp; Phalange militia assembles by foot and truck, enter Sabra and Shatila camps and begin house-to-house searches; IDF illuminates camps with flares fired by Israeli mortars, aircraft; Phalange commanders in radio contact with IDF officers during operation; IDF rations provided; isolated gunmen break into homes, kill whole families, some civilians axed to death; in evening, IDF soldiers meet hysterical Palestinian women running from camps telling of massacre, relay reports to IDF officers; Gaza Hospital staff report steadily increasing gunfire, explosions; Phalange commander at Shatila tells IDF at 11 PM "Until now, 300 civilians and terrorists killed," report sent to IDF HQin Tel Aviv, circulated among 20 top officers.

Casualties:

48 Murabitun militiamen killed in 2 days; Bank of Lebanon catches fire during IDF shelling; IDF tanks crush cars; residents seek shelter in basements to escape shelling; glass and tree limbs litter area of fighting; IDF soldiers question, detain civilians; by noon, Gaza Hospital reports 100 casualties, by evening, over 2,000 Palestinians and Lebanese jam corridors seeking to escape Phalange/ Haddad militias and report whole families being butchered.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Israeli Cabinet, at late night meeting, rejects renewed US call for withdrawal from West Beirut, says it will remain until Lebanese Army can ensure order in the wake of Gemayel's death; Sharon and Eitan win approval without dissent for IDF entry into West Beirut, use of Phalange forces in camps despite some Ministers' reservations and Eitan warning that entry may lead to "blood vengeance" by Phalange; Sharon tells Draper IDF will remain; Peres criticizes IDF entry into West Beirut, calls for redeployment of multinational force.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Phalange Party nominates Amin Gemayel (Member of Parliament and brother of Bashir) as new presidential candidate 7 days before end of Sarkis' term; Sarkis and Wazzan ask Reagan to persuade IDF to withdraw; Lebanon calls on UN Security Council to condemn IDF attacks; 4 LNM leaders meet with IDF officers at a former PSP (jumblatt) headquarters to consider non-resistance but reject it; Wazzan says he ordered Lebanese Army to resist IDF advance but it disobeyed; Arafat demands 3 nations return peacekeeping forces to Beirut to protect civilians, including refugees; PLO Research Center ransacked and looted by IDF.

US and Other Countries: US calls Israeli action a "violation," demands immediate pullout (one official says US credibility in Arab world at stake, may undermine Reagan initiative); Italians support return of peacekeeping forces to Beirut; Italian Jews protest Arafat-Pope visit in Rome.

UN: Security Council meets to condemn Israeli occupation of Beirut.

Military Action:

IDF, PLO forces clash with rockets, artillery, gunfire near airport and in Burj al-Barajneh; Mieh Mieh refugee camp near Sidon attacked by Phalangist forces, 40 houses burned; cease-fire broken with bazooka fire and snipers in the Museum area; IDF air force attacks PLO positions in Beirut, allegedly destroying a PLO headquarters.

Casualties:

Thousands continue to flee West Beirut, choking the one crossing left open (hundreds of Lebanese seeking to enter W. Beirut to bring out relatives and friends are barred by IDF); food, water, fuel, electricity remain cut off (UNICEF tells its personnel to leave); none of those leaving are being allowed to stay in East Beirut; only Lebanese, no Palestinians being allowed to leave (Phalange say this is at IDF orders); ICRC finally gets IDF permission for one truck of medicine, four of food to enter West Beirut.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Israel Committee Against the War in Lebanon sponsors march through Tel Aviv; Women Against the War begin vigil outside Begin offices; Israel confirms receiving substantive proposal on withdrawal.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Amin Gemayel (Bashir's brother) enters West Beirut, says war needs to stop; PLO reportedly prepared to leave Beirut as Syria agrees to accept guerrillas; Wazzan, after meeting Habib, is optimistic evacuation will begin in a few days; Camille Chamoun says presidential elections cannot take place until crisis resolved; effort to reconcile B. Gemayel, Jumblatt fails.

Arab Governments: Syria, Egypt reportedly offer refuge to PLO guerrillas (Egypt's foreign minister later says PLO withdrawal must be preceded by establishment of a global resolution of the Palestinian problem); Arab governments reluctant to accept substantial numbers of guerrillas; PLO expresses anger at this hesitation to accept trapped fighters.

US and Other Countries: US officials say difference between US and Israel may affect military and economic ties (US seeks Saudi and Jordanian participation in Camp David); in Munich, West Germany 1,000 protest against IDF attacks on Beirut; Nicaragua breaks relations with Israel; Italy and Greece offer peacekeeping troops.

Military Action:

IDF and PLO forces fight rocket, tank and artillery duels across Beirut in evening after a day of intermittent shelling; thousands of civilians flee to shelters; Palestinian areas of Barbir and Mazraa reportedly hard hit along with southern outskirts; PLO fire targets IDF emplacements in Hadeth, near East Beirut; shells land at major crossing points, Beirut racetrack, the airport and Burj al-Barajneh; 10 members of 50-man Lebanese security guard unit at airport wounded in shelling; Lebanese Defense Ministry indirectly accuses PLO of starting outbreak by shelling Galerie Semaan crossing; IDF using C-130 Hercules planes to ferry arms and equipment into Lebanon; IDF has reportedly widened and improved a small airstrip at Ansar, west of Nabatiyeh near detention camp.

Casualties:

Beirut experiences major gas shortages, gunfights break out at gas lines; despite token IDF troop pullback to let Wazzan pass and Israeli denial that food was being kept out of W. Beirut, IDF soldiers continue to turn away food lorries as well as fuel and medicine; IDF spokesman says Israel has captured 9,000 suspected PLO guerrillas, 30-60 reportedly being arrested every day; small bands still hiding in hills east of Sidon, occasionally attacking IDF troops; Lebanese police estimate 50 killed, 200 wounded in fierce artillery and rocket duels in the evening; Beirut's 3 main hospitals report 515 killed, 2,200 wounded at their facilities alone since the invasion.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Mayor Rashid al-Shawa of Gaza is dismissed by the Israeli Defense Ministry, becoming the seventh Arab mayor ousted since March after refusing to lift a 2-month municipal strike against cooperation with new Israeli "civil administration"; 35 IDF reserve soldiers involved in Entebbe rescue in 1976 protest the war in Lebanon in letter sent to Begin; 86 reserve officers and soldiers recently released from their units ask Defense Ministry not to be sent back to Lebanon, appeal for evacuation of all Israeli troops; Communications Minister Zipori opposes setting final deadline for getting "terrorists" out of Beirut; demonstrators in Nablus stone IDF soldiers, tear gas and gunfire used to disperse demonstrators; military authorities ban request of Palestine Bank in Gaza Strip to collect money for Lebanon war victims.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Beirut negotiations falter amidst contradictory signals: PLO leader Kaddoumi's statement in London that PLO has agreed to leave Beirut countered by PLO statement in Beirut that PLO has not agreed to leave country, only to move its headquarters from Beirut; adviser to Arafat Hani al-Hassan affirms agreement with Lebanese Government to pull PLO out of Beirut when an international force sanctioned by the UN and containing Americans enters the capital to guarantee the PLO's safe exit and protect remaining Palestinian civilians; Habib reportedly resists deployment of international force before PLO withdrawal to avoid any implicit US recognition of PLO; PLO rejects pullout by sea; PLO insists on maintaining political presence in Lebanon; Wazzan ends 5-day boycott of negotiations, takes PLO demands to Baabda following easing of IDF blockade; Bashir Gemayel states opposition to US troops entering Lebanon, says Lebanese Army should secure W. Beirut; Habib contacts Sharon, who reportedly favors a military solution.

Arab Governments: Syria refuses to receive PLO guerrillas from Lebanon, saying they should stay in Lebanon until they return to Palestine; Arab League delegation including PLO's Kaddoumi in London for talks.

US and Other Countries: Morris Draper, Habib aide, reportedly sent to Syria to get it to accept PLO forces temporarily; Habib reportedly rejects two-stage withdrawal; US Sixth Fleet waits off Lebanese coast; White House officials expect negotiation breakthrough soon, describe IDF cut-off of water and electricity as "outrageous"; issue reportedly taken up by Reagan in letter to Begin; Habib plan reportedly calls for IDF pullback of 1 km. while PLO forces begin evacuation; State Department says US "deeply regrets" Shawa dismissal; Britain declines role in peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

Military Action:

Israeli troops seize Beaufort Castle, Nabatiyeh, Hasbaya; fighting continues in Tyre and nearby Palestinian refugee camps; air battle over Beirut suburbs between Israeli and Syrian jets; Israeli troops converge on Sidon from 3 directions after airdropping leaflets to residents asking them to leave their homes within 2 hours; three waves of Israeli planes bomb and strafe southern Beirut; Begin and Ariel Sharon tour Beaufort Castle; Tyre is finally captured, in house-to-house combat, though pockets of resistance remain; UN re-ports 57 Israeli sorties flown over Lebanon; Israeli armored column pushes to within 12 miles of Beirut; assault on Jiye power plant cuts electricity to Beirut.

Two Syrian jets shot down over northern Israel, .2 in northern Lebanon; Israeli jets bomb and strafe Syrian positions at jezzine, east of Sidon (at least 5 Syrian soldiers killed); fierce battles fought with Israeli jets over Beirut; Syrian peacekeeping units in Beirut move equipment and ammunition to positions guarding highways to Bekaa valley.

PLO units resist in heavy fighting in Tyre and Sidon and at Saadiyat, 12 miles south of Beirut; Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) says 45,000 Israeli troops involved apd 400 killed since the invasion began; claim 45 Israeli tanks and 45 armored cars knocked out; personal security headquarters for Arafat reported hit; PLO accuses UNIFIL of "collaboration" with Israel in failing to counter invasion; Lebanese National Move-ment militias take positions near seafront to guard against Israeli invasion of Beirut.

Casualties:

Apartment buildings and structures at Arab University hit, hospitals report at least 60 wounded; refugees stream into Beirut; electricity cut off to Beirut; Israelis estimate Palestinian casualties at 2500; radio reports say hundreds of bodies litter streets of Sidon; fierce firefight on edge of Sidon reported, as fires rage on hillsides. Israel reports 25 killed, 7 missing, 1 captured, 96 wounded; PLO estimates Israeli casualties at 400.

Political Responses:

Israel/Occupied Territories: Begin turns over Beaufort Castle to Major Haddad, meets with Habib, rejects US call for restraint; Army Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan says taking of Beaufort Castle pushes guerrillas out of range of all Galilee settlements except near Golan Heights; blackout on news of troop movements maintained; Foreign Minister Shamir says Israeli aims go beyond pushing the PLO away from the border to "the PLO's final destruction as a terrorist and political factor"; Israel reportedly pressuring Haddad and the Phalange to join in attacks on the PLO (Bashir Gemayel resists); Peres and Rabin (Labor Party) meet with Begin over remarks of Sharon, and Peres calls for speedy end to the conflict; Mapam demands a halt to Israeli air attacks and a return to the cease-fire; Knesset meets to consider no-confidence motion introduced by Democratic Front for Peace & Equality; 60 left-wing students demonstrate near prime minister's of-fice; 150 march to Mt. Scopus campus. Israeli military police tighten border patrols to prevent goods looted from Lebanese homes coming into Israel.

Palestinians/Lebanese: PLO accuses UNIFIL of "collaboration" with Israelis; Bashir Gemayel resists Israeli pressure to attack PLO; WAFA reports Israeli troops number 60,000.

Arab Governments: High-level Iranian delegation, including heads of Iranian army and revolutionary guards, visits Syria.

US: Pentagon sends 5 US warships to the eastern Mediterranean in case the 4,000 Americans in Lebanon need to be evacuated.

UN: UN resolution calls for unconditional and immediate Israeli withdrawal and an end to all military activity within Lebanon and across its border with Israel (Israel's Ambas-sador says Israel will not comply); ABC reports UNIFIL officer received orders from UN headquarters not to resist Israeli forces.